American Oil and Gas Reporter - January 2012 - 122

Tech Trends 2012
Small to midsized independents likely
will be the first to adopt cloud-based
solutions because they have the most
to gain and the willingness to take the
risk in applying new technology to
their businesses. As they did in pioneering shale development, small to
midsized producers will push the industry forward by trying new methods. They see the value in readily
accessible information and will be
able to free more capital from back-office expenditures. Source: Aberdeen
Group.

ating in shale and other tight formations
can perform 3-D imaging and analysis.
Seismic data acquisition and processing
are among the most data-intensive links in
the entire chain of production. The cloud
makes it possible for seismic data to be fed
through satellite or cellular links to data
storage space in the cloud as the data are
collected. The data can be processed and
queued in a workflow as they are collected
in the field while surveying proceeds.
As a result, real information can be
available for final analysis before the
seismic trucks even come out of the field.
Radiology departments, which deal with
large volumes of secure data, already are
applying this type of technology. Medical
images can be recorded at one location,
transmitted, processed and eventually reviewed by a doctor in some other state,
while complying with strict medical privacy regulations.
Directional and horizontal drilling are
already almost entirely driven by software
designed to reduce errors and calculate
precise plans, but there are inherent limitations in where the software can be run
and who can have access to it, since it
typically resides on a single server or
computer. The cloud expands the benefits
by supporting collaboration during the
planning stage of the process, making
land information and future development
plans for each field available in real time.
Furthermore, if during the drilling
process the well plan has to be modified,
real-time analysis and "what if" scenarios
can be applied by comparing the original
well plans and the drilling data collected
up to that point. Well plans can be made
to include event-driven reporting, whereby
specific users are notified automatically
when specific conditions are met. For
example, a slowdown in the drilling
process could trigger bringing an expert

contractor on site. With cloud services, it
is as easy as sending an e-mail.
Optimizing Production
For the majority of the industry, production is still very much a manual, paper-and-pencil effort in which pumpers
manually collect data from the field. If information is collected on paper and stored
in a pumper's truck, it is not readily accessible to office personnel or an engineer
who may need it to diagnose a problem
with a well. Supported by technology,
managers can have access to every piece
of information tied to the wells and equipment they manage. The detailed well plans
and well bore diagrams, rig reports, completion results, and everything else that
has occurred throughout the life of a well
is available from a smart phone. Consider
the amount of time and money that is lost
when calls have to be made to the office
to locate well logs and drilling reports
while a service rig sits idle on location.
As information is collected electronically from the field, it is immediately
available for analysis, which can be done
through automated processes that deliver
scheduled reports to targeted personnel
at every level in the organization. The
production data are automatically
processed into a larger data warehouse,
where further business intelligence analytics are applied. Quarterly or long-term
analysis makes use of production data.
Cloud-based production automation and
optimization services allow production operators to do more with fewer personnel
and achieve better results. The newest onshore fields are being automated by producers of all sizes because the advances in
hardware and communication technology
can support it. However, all of the improvements on the hardware side will not
produce a return on the investment without

122 THE AMERICAN OIL & GAS REPORTER

cloud services to tie them together and
move companies from a reactive to a proactive approach to producing oil and gas.
Automation and monitoring systems
do more than simply repeat raw data and
send alarms when pressures reach a certain
level, or other events are triggered. Modern
systems can identify abnormalities in
pressures, flow rates, temperatures or
combinations of all of them by analyzing
data over time to detect potential problems.
On the operational side, field technicians
can focus on the most pressing tasks and
have their routes adjusted based on need,
rather than following the same routes
each day. Experienced field personnel are
spread increasingly thin, sometimes covering several hundred miles in a single
day. The problem is only getting worse
as field personnel are required to support
an increasing number of wells, and technology can help to bridge the gap.
Minimal requirements to expect from
a production support system include:
* Capturing production data in real time;
* Optimizing production in real time;
* Managing production equipment
and maintenance schedules; and
* Determining the most efficient use
of personnel.
The successful application of enhanced
oil recovery techniques in all forms shares
the need for information and continuous
management to maximize the profitability
of each field. Automation plays an important role in EOR because it removes
the need for personnel to manage the
entire field at all times. With storage and
processing capacity no longer a factor for
modern automation systems, optimization
strategies can be applied as the data are
retrieved from the field and adjustments
made according to real-time changes. In
order to be successful, an even greater
emphasis has to be placed on those who
have the expertise in applying advanced
production optimization algorithms, rather
than relying on office staff to review
mountains of data to find anomalies.
Accounting, Back-Office Issues
There is a tremendous amount of waste
in offices supporting oil and gas operations.
Income, operating expenses, AFEs, and
balance sheets frequently are managed
using different software applications, requiring duplicate data entry to compare
and integrate. Often these offices exist

American Oil and Gas Reporter - January 2012

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